Battle of the best – Ford Vs. Barrett… Who will be the best in their prime?!

Following on from Eddie Jones’ comment about George Ford, we thought we’d check it out and see if it’s possible!

Beauden Barrett over recent years has been undoubtably the best Rugby player in the world, with pretty much every attribute you want in a Rugby player nailed to a tee. But as we like to see, he has some competition to keep him well on his toes, in the form of England’s George Ford.

The 23 year old is England and Bath’s fastest growing talent, with all the skills to pay the bills he is cementing his place in the England first XV beautifully, as he did in the nations younger ranks; with his nomination for the BBC Young Sports Personality on the year when he played more than his part in the U18’s side. Due to this achievement he was rapidly promoted to the U20 side in 2011 where he took them to the Six Nations grand slam and the Junior Championship final in Italy.

Although, all of this was also done by his Kiwi competitor for top spot Beauden Barrett, as he has also had an outstanding first few seasons under the All Blacks, as he has scored a phenomenal 17 test tries in four years, and scored an impressive 26 points in last years RWC alone.

Thinking about it, Beauden may have more tries, but if there’s one place where he falls down, it is his kicking, and this is where Fordy could potentially overtake the 25 year old New Zealander, with George’s 151 points from 28 games for England and Barrett’s 283 in 48 games, there is only an averaged difference of 0.5 points per game between the two in terms of points scored, but with there being a 10 game difference, can Ford keep it up and stay consistent?

Apart from this, I think everyone will agree they aren’t too different at all, and New Zealander Todd Blackadder agrees, stating that; “George will be a player of a generation, he really will, up there with Dan Carter and Beauden Barrett, the guy is unbelievable,” Blackadder told the Daily Telegraph earlier this year, which to be fair has been evident throughout his career already, so what is to come? It should be great things!

Blackadder went on to say that Ford is a great player due to his tenacity to get back when it is time to defend, and this is an area where a lot of fly-halves lack, but Ford is not afraid to out his body on the line for his team, which is what gives him the ability to step above the rest. Although Blackadder has only been at Bath for a few months, even after a period of 10 days he was certain that George can take the next step to join the likes of Dan Carter and Beauden Barrett in the future Rugby hall of fame.

Both George and Beauden are both quality players who have a lot left to offer the game of Rugby, most likely from the starting position, but they both can still control the game from off the bench, which will be useful later in their careers, just as George’s knowledge of the tactical side of the game; but for the minute they are just getting started, so I guess only time will tell, anything could happen, but if George keeps going as he is, there’s a very good chance he can overtake the already great player!